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Book Review Template and Lesson for Library Blog

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Students will have an opportunity to submit a book review to my blog!  I am excited to include them and their amazing recommendations! The participants were invited to be a part of a book club.  They have met for the last 6 weeks and next week, they will be taught how to submit a book review blog post.  Below, you will find the lesson!  Topic : Creation of Blog Post Time Allotment : 30 min. Objectives : Ss will write a blog post reviewing a new book arrival! The blog will be updated as students submit reviews. Ss will have an opportunity to comment on each others posts.  The project is meant for students to learn about new books! Collaborate: Ss can collaborate with peers on choosing books for the project. Create: Ss will create a blog post reviewing the book that they read. Critical Thinking: Ss will reflect on ways that this book will appeal to readers and  Communicate: through the blog post.  Students will follow the format below when submitting their book review: Bibliographic cita
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Texas Bluebonnet Bonanza

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Read 5 Then Decide! Welcome to the Bluebonnet Bonanza!  Take a look at your 2020-2021 nominees.  Choose at least five to read and then you will have an opportunity to join our Bluebonnet Club and vote for your favorite book! Make sure to visit the library to track your progress! You will get an invitation to the Bluebonnet Bonanza once you have read 5 books!  
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The Power of the Texas 2x2's

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Every year, TLA comes out with several reading lists.  I am most familiar with the Texas Bluebonnet list which is recommended for grades 3rd-6th and the Lone Star list is recommended for grades 6th-8th. Although I am aware of other lists, I was able to learn more about the 2x2 reading list.  What I love the most about the books on the list, is that there is an activity to go along with each title!  The activities that go along with the books are great resources when working with younger grades. I recently read  Packs – Strength in Numbers  by Hannah Salyer to first graders!  It was a perfect opportunity to talk to them about how we learn true and factual information when we read nonfiction!   I like to write down EVERYTHING for a lesson!  Here is how it went... Meet in the hallway, have teachers pass out cards as students put the book on the cart, ask teachers to scan books in... INTRODUCE: Introduce book title and author.  This story is nonfiction but if you notice, these are not real
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Book Tasting with 4th Grade

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 My librarian hosted a book tasting the 4th grade ELAR classes!  It was an amazing opportunity to be a part of and the students (and teachers) were able add great books to there TBR list!  
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Final Reflections of LSSL 5391

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I definitely had some reservations about this course.  Technology is not my strength yet, but I know this is the direction that Library Media Services is going. This course went at the perfect pace and provided the information that I needed to be successful in learning the tools and the confidence that I needed to share amazing web applications with teachers and students. I'm so thankful for the knowledge that I gained from completing this course!  Please take a moment to read my book, Reflections of a Future Ready Librarian . Reflections of a Future Ready Librarian  by Crystal McCord Because there was so much valuable information posted throughout the course, I created my first Wakelet to house all of the articles, webapps, and notes. Check out my Wakelet here ! 
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Universal Design for Learning

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Universal Design for Learning is all about teachers meeting curriculum goals for each student, regardless of how diverse the group is.  Each person learns uniquely; therefore, the curriculum needs to be designed to meet their uniqueness.  As teachers and librarians, we need to provide unique learning opportunities for each student and provide them with various ways to represent their learning.  Principle I. Provide Multiple Means of Representation      Guideline 1: Provide options for perception Something I am doing with my students now: Checkpoint 1.1 – Offer ways of customizing the display of information Checkpoint 1.3 - Offer alternatives for visual information  Something I can implement right away: Checkpoint 1.2 - Offer alternatives for auditory information       Guideline 2: Provide options for language, mathematical expressions, and symbols Something I am doing with my students now: Checkpoint 2.1 - Clarify vocabulary and symbols Checkpoint 2.2 - Clarify syntax and structure Che
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Podcasts in the Library

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This file is licensed under the  Creative Commons   Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported  license. Podcasts are becoming more and more popular.  I believe many people would rather listen than read!  I feel less distracted when I listen to a podcast over reading the same information in a blog post.  I tend to go down a rabbit hole and click on all the things, and the next thing I know, I've been scrolling for hours!    For this post, I am going to talk about three different podcast platforms.  I'll focus on a few features but mostly their ease of use.  I know teachers love to use podcasts with student performance tasks, so something students can access and use quickly and easily is a big part of my why behind this post. Podcasts can also be used in the library to discuss hot topics, book talks, or even interview other librarians in your district to see what they have going on in their library.  It is also a way to do "learning walks" without even leaving your campus! F
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